I Believe in Setting Goals

I grew up in an Olympic-sized pool. Once, in the middle of a tedious practice, I crunched the numbers and discovered that by age 16 I had spent more than 4,000 hours in that sparkling, aqueous environment. I perfected stroke technique, studied test notes hastily plastered to the pool wall, and determined which bathroom was close enough to sprint to between sets. Of all the lessons I learned in that big blue basin, the most important is the value of actively seeking self-improvement. I believe in goals: setting them, reaching them, not being afraid of them.

There comes a point in every swimmer’s career when he or she reaches a plateau. For me, it was during eleventh grade. After several frustrating months, a part of me gave up. It wasn’t a conscious decision, but more a defense mechanism. Deep inside I figured if I didn’t try quite as much, then I wouldn’t be disappointed if I didn’t perform well. I still worked hard, but without the spark of incentive, I lost the drive the sport demands. On several occasions I set goals for myself, but they were simply formalities imposed by my coach. I didn’t let myself want them because I was afraid of letting myself down. So instead of getting faster, I got slower … and slower … and slower.

It took 18 months, but after dozens of awful races I finally realized that by avoiding goal-setting, I didn’t avoid feeling unsuccessful. Looking back at all those meets and practices, all those lost hours spent trying to protect myself from failure, I realized that I never found out what I was capable of. The sum of those missed opportunities was far more disappointing than a race or two or three or fifty that didn’t go my way. So I sat down with my coach. Together we set new goals and discussed what I could do to achieve them. I knew there was a big chance that I would fall short, but that was a good thing. In order to improve, I had to want something beyond my reach.

A few months later I competed again. I didn’t quite reach the goals I had set, but I did improve, and after a year of swimming letdowns, I could imagine no greater success. The moment I looked at my time on the clock, I ducked under the water and squealed.

Now when I’m in a rut, I think about what I most want to achieve, and I set a goal. After writing it down, I don’t just toss it into a pile of papers on my desk. I internalize it. I work for it. In the metaphorical swimming pool of life, I won’t always get what I want out of my body on a race day, but I refuse to be afraid of letting myself down. If I don’t admit that I want something, if I don’t try for it, I’ll never achieve it. This I believe.

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This week’s essay

Growing up in the former Yugoslavia, lawyer Djenita Pasic enjoyed the peace of her religiously diverse country. But after the fall of communism and the outbreak of the Bosnian War, Pasic was forced to reevaluate her ideas about religion and tolerance. Click here to read her essay.